Helping lawyers create more productive, profitable and enjoyable law practices

June 23, 2017

When a client begins questioning your bills, is it the beginning of the end of the client relationship?

A lawyer recently told me, “If the client is questioning my bills, it means the client doesn’t trust me, and the relationship deteriorates from there. The relationship will end badly. It’s inevitable. It has nothing to do with me and there is nothing I can do about it.”

Is this really true?

Maybe, but then again, maybe not.

If a client is questioning a bill, it is not a foregone conclusion that the client doesn’t trust you; nor is it accurate to say that there is nothing that you can do about it.

Why do clients question lawyers’ bills?

There are many reasons why a client may question your bills. These might include:

The client doesn’t understand what was done or why it was necessary

The client doesn’t understand the process involved

The client doesn’t understand your billing process

The bill doesn’t fully describe the work performed or the effort expended on the client’s behalf

The bill contains work that was not anticipated by the client

The bill was much higher than the client expected

Many of these factors are within your control, and may be limited or eliminated with good billing and intake practices.

Good practices get bills paid

Use the initial client meeting to fully explain the scope of work to be performed and the fees associated with that work. Take advantage of this opportunity to fully explain all potential variables. Give the client the chance to ask questions. Many clients are reluctant to admit their ignorance of the law or the legal process and will be afraid to ask questions, but encouraging questions at the beginning can avoid headaches – and unpaid bills – later.

Avoid “surprise” bills that include unanticipated work or a higher fee than expected. No client likes to receive those kinds of bills. Communicate with the client about the work to be performed before undertaking that work. When unanticipated circumstances arise, get the client’s agreement on any new work before moving forward and explain why it must be performed and how it relates to the client’s goals and expectations. And use each bill as an opportunity to demonstrate and reinforce the value that you provide to the client.

Although there are rare occasions when it may not be possible to discuss work with the client before the work is done, the client’s first notification about unanticipated work or charges should not come when the client receives the bill. In all circumstances you should discuss the unanticipated events with the client and explain the effect on the fee before the bill is sent to the client. These conversations should take place by telephone or in person, and should not be communicated only by email in all but the most extreme circumstances.

What to do when a client questions your bill

When a client questions your bill, it is imperative that you investigate what is behind the client’s questions. What is motivating the inquiry?

There will always be some clients who will not value lawyers or the work they do, no matter how well you explain it. Others simply cannot afford your fees, and are just trying to get the bill as low as they can. But it is your responsibility to determine whether that is the case, or whether the client has legitimate questions about the work that was done and why or the amount of time expended.

When a client questions a bill, it is a good opportunity for you to reinforce value – to return the discussion you had with the client during the initial intake and to revisit the client’s goals and expectations for the engagement. If this conversation did not occur at intake, now is the time for you to explore these issues with the client to ensure that you and your client are working together toward a common goal.

Old clients, new matters

On occasion, billing questions arise when you are performing ongoing work for an existing client or the client requests new or additional work after completion of the matter for which you were originally engaged.

For example, assume a client hires you to negotiate a lease agreement at $250/hour. Once that contract has been negotiated and the lease has been signed, the client asks you to negotiate a contract with a vendor at the same $250/hour rate. Although you may have discussed the intricacies of negotiating a lease agreement with the client at the beginning of the engagement, the same may not be true for the second contract. If the vendor negotiation is more complicated or the other party is less responsive, the bill may be higher than the client expects, giving rise to questions when the client receives the bill.

Ideally, you would discuss the client’s objectives and expectations with each new item of work you undertake, and provide the client with the variables that might affect the fee, but many lawyers neglect this step with ongoing client relationships.

Hourly billing only complicates the matter, since it can be difficult to determine up front exactly how many hours will be expended on a client’s matter, particularly if the matter involves litigation or otherwise relies upon compliance or cooperation from other parties and/or their counsel. But variables and potential complications should be discussed with the client up front, and any delays or other complications should be communicated during the engagement as they occur, before the client is billed.

Billing write-offs

Another lawyer asks, “I have some clients for whom I write off a lot of time. Should I take that as a sign that I should eliminate the client? Should I itemize no-charge items on client bills? It’s time-consuming to keep track of these items, but later, the same client will question charges or skimp on necessary work to save money.”

First, explore the reasons why you are writing off time. Is it at the client’s request, or are you undercutting yourself by writing off legitimate time spent on the client’s matter before the client receives the bill? Are you writing off time because you believe the value of the services provided to the client is less than what you have billed? If so, you may need to examine the kinds of matters you are undertaking or how you are handling them.

If the client is asking for the write-off, have you adequately established the value of the work you have performed? Have you firmly established your billing practices and boundaries with the client?

While it is time-consuming, if you are going to bill based on hours, you should always keep track of all of the time you spend working for a client and always reflect it on the bill, even if (and perhaps especially if) you are not going to charge for that time. This may reduce or even eliminate instances of clients asking for a reduction for work that was necessary.

When you bill hourly, clients tend to focus on just hours, rather than on the actual work you are doing or the value you are providing to them and their business. It is especially important to show those kinds of clients that you are providing value and to show them that you are not nickel and diming them or charging them for every minute you’re working for them. It is likely that you are tracking this time to some extent anyway, so taking the few seconds it should take to create a no-charge billing entry is well worth it in client goodwill.

Keep in mind that the clients who are most focused on hours (to the exclusion of other factors) are usually not your ideal clients. You may want to use time write-offs or repeated billing questions as a way to help identify and eliminate lower value clients who are more demanding and do not value your services – but only after you’ve explored how you might salvage the relationship, set better billing practices and standards and communicate more effectively with clients about your services and your fees.

Update: This post was picked as a Technolawyer SmallLaw Pick of the Week!

April 14, 2015

This week is the annual ABA TECHSHOW, the premier technology conference for lawyers taking place in Chicago. TECHSHOW is a combination of educational sessions offering continuing legal education credits, an exhibit hall featuring the latest technology available to help you run your practice, and social events offering opportunities to meet lawyers from all over the country who are learning to use technology to improve their law firms.

In addition to all of this, TECHSHOW provides attendees with the opportunity to meet ABA Law Practice Division authors in meet the author sessions and to purchase LP books at a discount.

This year's keynote speaker is Nick Carr, columnist and best-selling author on technology and culture.

I have a busy schedule for TECHSHOW this year - here's where I'll be if you'd like to take some time to chat:

Thursday, April 16:

12:30-1:45 State of Legal Technology I'll be joining some of my colleagues from the Legal Technology Resource Center discussing the results of this year's technology survey during the State of Legal Technology Luncheoon

2:00-3:00 LinkedIn's Next Level: Getting More Return on Your NetworkingDennis Kennedy and I will be talking about how lawyers can get more out of their LinkedIn use. This presentation is a follow up to our basic LinkedIn program and is designed to give those with a basic knowledge of LinkedIn some power strategies to ramp up their networking. If you're still a LinkedIn newbie, you can see a version of our basic presentation that we just did earlier this month for the ABA here - not only will you get the video download, but you'll also get a free copy of the e-book version of LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers, Second Edition.

3:00-4:00 Shaping Your Narrative - Online Reputation Management In this program, Gyi Tsakalakis and I tackle the issue of online ratings and reviews sites: why lawyers need to be aware of them, how to improve your positive ratings and reviews, what to do if you receive bad reviews online, and we'll cover some of the ethics issues involved.

1:45-2:30 Meet the Author: How to Do More in Less TimeMy latest book, How to Do More in Less Time: The Complete Guide to Increasing Your Productivity and Improving Your Bottom Line, was recently released, and my co-author, Dan Siegel and I will be talking about the book during this meet the author session on Friday afternoon, followed by a book signing at 2:30. If you've ever felt overwhelmed with all of the tasks you need to accomplish, had difficulty delegating, or wished you could get better use from the software programs you use every day, this book might be for you. Come learn some of our best tips!

While at TECHSHOW, I'll also be attending many of the social events and receptions - if you've never been to TECHSHOW, don't miss the TASTE OF TECHSHOW Dinners - dutch treat events at some of Chicago's best restaurants, hosted by our speakers. I may make an appearance on Legal Talk Network as well. All in all, it should be a fantastic event - hope to see you there!

Finally, I want to say thank you to Heidi Alexander for her post on Women You Need to Know in Law and Technology - she's put together a fantastic list of women in technology, and many of those on her list are current or past ABA TECHSHOW speakers and authors. I'm flattered to be included on her list!

February 20, 2015

I recently heard about a new productivity tool built specifically for solo service providers that I thought might be of interest to solo lawyers, although I haven't tried it myself yet. Built by an international team of designers and developers, 17 hats is a business management app that seeks to streamline business processes for solo business people.

17hats is a cloud-based tool that combines basic CRM (customer relationship management, including contacts), project management, calendaring, quotes, contracts, invoicing, time tracking and bookkeeping all into one integrated program, eliminating the need to subscribe to several software services and purchase different apps and programs.

Some features lawyers might be interested in include:

Workflows lets you automate many repetitive tasks, and to create workflows so you don't skip an essential step in a client's representation. For those who like checklists, these workflows should work well.

Contracts isn't just for contracts, per se - it's a feature that lets you create documents, send them and get them signed digitally. You can create questionnaires to send to clients or potential clients in advance of a meeting or to obtain client feedback after a matter has been completed. Clients fill out the questionnaires directly online. Quotes is what you'd use to send a client an estimate or explanation of your fees. You might use either quotes or contracts for a retainer agreement for example.

Templates helps you to create re-usable templates so you don't need to reinvent the wheel. You can create templates for questionnaires, contracts, quotes, email messages and more.

Incorporated into the invoicing feature is the ability to send online invoices and receive credit card payments. A time-tracking tool will help if you need to bill by the hour or just want to keep track of your time.

There is also an email sync feature, but reviews at this early stage have been lukewarm at best on this particular feature.

17hats is a relatively new program which was launched in October 2014, but the Pasadena, CA based company reportedly received additional seed funding this month from Wavemaker Partners, a company that focuses on technnology based startup companies. This could mean good things for the future of the program.

The company offers a two week free trial, followed by pricing that, if the program delivers the functionality it advertises, is eminently affordable: if you sign on for two years, you pay just $13/month. Shorter terms are available at $29/month for the monthly plan or $17/month for the annual plan.

While not built specifically for lawyers, 17hats does say that lawyers are among the solo business owners it had in mind when creating the program. As with any cloud-based program, you'll want to see what security and confidentiality measures 17hats uses to safeguard data you enter into the program, but for solos who want to stay organized, this may be an interesting option.

September 12, 2014

This month's issue of Law Practice Magazine is all about finance. If you're looking for some tips on how to improve your firm's financial performance, this month's issue can help.

For example, check out this article from Peter Roberts on starting a financial relationship with your client, in which Roberts shows you how a few minor tweaks in the way you package your fee agreement can make all the difference in the world to your clients.

If your financials aren't in the best shape, you might be interested in Jessica McKeegan Jensen's article on Pristine Financials, which will show you exactly what you need to know to get your financials in shape, and help you properly categorize income and expenses so that you get a better picture of exactly what's happening with your firm's money and what it means so that you can make improvements.

Once your financials are in shape, it might be time to review your malpractice insurance policy. Thomas Watson and Reid Trautz show you what to look for in your policy, what to consider when completing your application, and provide some tips on preventing claims by instituting good risk management policies. Having the incorrect malpractice coverage could cost you money - in more ways than one - so be sure to read through their article.

Need a loan? Sylvia See's article, "A Lawyer's Guide to Business Credit" tells you what bankers think when they're considering offering loans to law firms and what you can do to improve your chances of getting a loan when you need it.

Eric Seeger's article, "2014: Law Firms In Transition" looks at Altman Weil's Law Firms in Transition survey and lets lawyers know what they should be considering in the areas of change, staffing, pricing, and leadership going forward.

This month's magazine also contains regular columns on the Law Practice Division's four core areas, marketing, management, technology, finance and more. Don't miss my Simple Steps column on Improving Client Communications. After all, nothing impacts your bottom line more than having a good relationship with your clients.

June 06, 2014

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Sarah Poriss for a video series especially for solos, called The Art of Being Solo, which will begin airing on June 16, 2014. The series provides insights from a variety of experts on a number of different topics from marketing to billing and everything in between.

The host of the summit, Sarah Poriss, is a solo herself, and she loves the business side of running her practice. She interviewed me and others to explore the issues and challenges faced by solos and small firm attorneys to answer the question “How can we all build a law practice that we love and that inspires us?”

The topic of my interview was billing and alternative fees. Alternative fee arrangements may not be easy to implement, particularly for brand-new solos, but when used properly, they do have a number of advantages, including:

Cost and revenue predictability

Development of project management skills

Emphasis on value over hours

Increased trust and stronger client relationships

Greater transparency

Improved communication

Alternative fee arrangements may require more work for the attorney, including more in-depth conversations with clients about their goals, budget and expected outcomes; more up-front planning; a better understanding of costs involved in providing services; tracking of budget and fees throughout the engagement; some level of standardization; project management skills; and an acceptance of some risk. But the rewards can be well worth it - and many clients are coming to expect (and indeed deserve) these services regardless of your fee structure.

Whether you decide to implement alternative fee structures in your practice or not, you should be as transparent with clients about your billing practices as possible, ensure that your bills are sent timely and that they are consistent, realistic and sufficiently detailed that clients can easily understand what was done, by whom, when, and why.

If you want to hear more about billing and alternative fees, check some of my other blog posts and articles on these topics:

...and watch my video in Art of Being Solo series (and you'll get even more tips with my free giveaway, too). But whether you're interested in billing or not, access to the entire video series is FREE, so check out some of the other experts as well by registering here. But don't delay - these videos will only be available for a limited time!

September 12, 2013

Earlier this week, two cloud-based practice management programs announced integration with other programs and features to help law firms with their financial management.

MyCase Integrates with Quickbooks

Many law firm practice management programs include billing and timekeeping modules as part of the program itself or as an additional add-on. As the infographic below demonstrates, many legal clients prefer online billing:

But billing and timekeeping helps lawyers with only one part of their financial management - the billing. Back-office or accounting functions are generally handled by separate accounting programs, resulting in duplicated effort, lost productivity, and increased opportunity for error.

As described more fully (on video, too) on the MyCase blog, cloud practice management program MyCase has announced a new integration with Quickbooks, a program used by many solo lawyers and small firms for their accounting functions. The Quickbooks integration doesn't just mean that MyCase is compatible with Quickbooks (in other words, that it allows for export of information from MyCase to Quickbooks), but that it is fully integrated with MyCase software, eliminating the necessity for duplicate entry. All it takes is one click to sync information.

The MyCase integration is compatible with both the desktop and online versions of Quickbooks (something not seen with other Quickbooks integration or compatibility), and after a one-time setup fee of $99, it is free with a MyCase subscription. Even better - MyCase is offering a reduced set up fee of $49 for users who enroll before September 30, 2013.

Rocket Matter Client Portal

Rocket Matter also released information on its newest practice management software upgrade this week, which includes a secure client portal and integration with credit card processor LawPay. Once again, more complete information on the release is available on the Rocket Matter blog.

Rocket Matter's client portal allows attorneys to securely share documents and calendar dates and appointments with clients in a secure environment, branded with the firm's logo, providing a single location for clients to obtain information about their matter.

The portal also allows firms to bill clients and receive payment directly through the portal; clients are notified of the invoice, log in to the portal and can pay immediately, online. When clients pay through the portal, the firm's financial ledgers in RocketMatter are automatically updated, eliminating the need for staff to enter the payment into the system.

July 11, 2013

I recently had a conversation with one of my clients, a law firm managing partner, about profitability. He had attended a seminar put on by a management consultant who talked about profitability and the use of alternative or fixed fees, claiming that in order to determine whether a particular matter was profitable, the firm should keep track of time spent on that matter, multiply that by the hourly rate of the attorney(s) doing the work, and then compare that amount to the amount of the fixed fee received on that matter.

Unfortunately, this is how many lawyers try to determine whether they should use fixed fees and whether those matters are profitable. But in my view (and thankfully, in my client's), this approach is all wrong for a number of reasons:

Any attorney's hourly rate is, to some degree, a fiction

It is unproductive to calculate the profitability of a single matter

Even on hourly billed cases, hourly rates may differ depending on what the market will bear

This calculation only compares revenues, not profits

Comparing a real number (money actually received) to a fantasy number (what may have been billed using hourly billing) is an exercise in futility

Hourly rate vs. Cost

As my client pointed out, he could make the flat fee matters look more profitable by lowering the attorney's hourly rate, which is already a somewhat arbitrary number which firms derive from some calcluation of overhead costs, hoped for profit and anticipated number of hours lawyers are expected to bill per year. But in most firms, there are different billable rates for different practice areas and different types of matters depending on what the market will bear in a particular case or practice area. And some clients negotiate for or set their own hourly rates.

The hourly rate calculation assumes an attorney will bill a certain number of hours per year, but does it really 'cost' the firm more if the attorney works more or less hours, if the attorney is paid on a yearly salary and generates revenue for the firm over and above their costs (their salary and the portion of overhead they use) to the firm? The 'cost' of the hour is the individual attorney's 'cost,' not the firm's cost, as I noted in this 2011 article written for Law Practice Today.

Profitability of individual matters

It's difficult to determine the "profitability" of individual matters, because these calculations don't take into account things like the potential for new business or referrals from the client or the costs associated with providing that particular service on that particular matter. An attorney's hourly rate - at least in theory - encompasses not only payment for the services rendered, but also some portion of overhead. But how do you carve that up to determine how much overhead should be allocated to individual flat or alternative fee matters?

This analysis also fails to take into account the simple fact that in most firms, some matters may be more profitable than others, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Yet making this comparison automatically makes the firm thing something is 'wrong' if a particular matter "could have" made more money if it were billed hourly.

Sometimes, an individiual matter is 'unprofitable' or less profitable than other matters, but taken as a whole the practice area or group of services provided is profitable. Every firm has some matters which pay for other matters, or which make taking other matters possible. Some matters provide less profitability but more consistent cash flow. Others provide the ability for less seasoned attorneys to gain experience, or provide services to the same clients who bring in larger or more lucrative matters (who might go elsewhere if the firm refused to provide the 'less profitable' services). Deciding the value of these matters to the firm based on this kind of hourly vs. fixed fee "profitability" comparison loses sight of these facts.

It may be helpful for firms to look at profitability of an attorney, a practice area or service provided (or of a client, if the firm receives multiple matters from a client) as a whole, but the only way to do that is to know the costs associated with providing those services which - once again - have nothing to do with the hours the lawyers spend on those matters. Costs include things like salaries, allocated staff, equipment, office space and other overhead, etc.

Even where a firm looks at the profitability of a specific client, practice area, industry or lawyer, the overall profitability of the firm must be taken into account, since there will be several factors that are not considered in those smaller profitability calculations, including things like business development, mentoring, staff management and administrative tasks, which are even more difficult to allocate per matter or per practice area.

Real Money vs. 'Hoped For' Money

Comparing a fictitious amount which might have been to the actual fee collected makes no sense. It assumes not only that the hours refelcted on the timesheet would all have been billed to the client, but also that the entire bill would have been paid.

The reaility is that hourly bills are often adjusted by the firm before being sent to the client. Even then, many clients do not simply accept the firm's bills, and not all clients pay in full and on time. Other factors not taken into account here include:Would there have been costs associated with collecting those fees? Would there be costs associated with the billing process or preparing hourly bills that do not exist with alternative or fixed fee arrangements?

Would the same client have even accepted an hourly billed arrangement at those rates?

Making a calculation based on what the firm may have billed, without knowing what would actually have been collected is inherently faulty - you're simply comparing income actually received to a fantasy - what good is that?

The comparison of what 'would have been' under an hourly rate and what actually was received under a fixed or other alternative fee arrangement not only fails to recognize that the client may not have actually paid the full hourly rate for any number of reasons, but it also doesn't actually measure profitability - it only measures revenue; it only takes part of the equation into account.

The problem with doing a real profitability calclulation (and the reason why many firms avoid it) is that it isn't easy to do; what part of overhead gets allocated to which matters or practice areas? If some services or employees are shared among groups or practice areas, this allocation makes a real difference in determining profitability.

This model also fails to take into account the potential upside to increased efficiencies which are more likely to emerge with alternative or fixed fee arrangements; hourly billing fails to encourage these efficiencies because more hours mean higher fees, which creates a disincentive to look for efficiencies. These efficiencies can increase profitability overall. They may also increase client satisfaction and referrals, neither of which is taken into account in the hourly vs. flat fee analysis.

The Bottom Line

Profit = Revenue - Costs

The only way to determine profitability is to know your costs (hours are not costs) and to subtract that number from revenue actually received. Sure, it's more difficult than simply comparing hours and hourly rates, but it's more accurate, too.

May 08, 2013

Billing. It's probably the most hated word in any lawyer's vocabulary. But it's a necessary evil. Even small practices need to keep up with their billing and collections, particularly when times are hard. Luckily, there are lots of software products out there that can help law firms of all sizes to keep up with their firm's financials, from timekeeping to invoicing to trust accounting.

Then again, the choices for law firm billing software can become overwhelming very quickly - which product is right for your firm, and what will it really cost? Will it work with the various different smartphones and tablets in use in your firm? Will you be able to access the system remotely? Will your billing program integrate well with your existing practice management system? Should you use a cloud-based product or a product that gets installed directly on your firm's system?

Once again, there's a resource out there to help. TechnoLawyer recently released their TechnoLawyer Research Buyer's Guide to Legal Billing Software. This report takes a comprehensive look at 22 different legal billing software programs, both cloud-based and traditional. You'll learn which programs work with which smartphones, tablets and other devices, what features and reports might be available, and more. They have even developed a way to compare these products on price using the TL Research Price so you can compare software programs based on a specific number of users and a specific length of time.

The best part is that you can get the TechnoLawyer Research Buyer's Guide to Legal Billing Software free if you are a TechnoLawyer member (and membership is free, too). If you're in the market for legal billing software, take a look at this report - it will take a lot of the headaches out of searching for a legal billing program for your firm.

March 26, 2013

On Monday the New York Times posted a story online about a suit against mega-firm DLA Piper alleging that the firm padded its bills. According to the story, lawyers at the firm engaged in email discussions about bills on this particular client's case which included comments about "churning" the bill.

The story goes on to note that, "Legal ethics scholars said that it was highly unusual to find documentary evidence of possible churning — the creation of unnecessary work to drive up a client’s bill."

It may be highly unusual to find a case in which such evidence has been uncovered, but that may be because many disputes over legal fees don't get this far or warrant the large amount of electronic discovery that would be required to determine whether associates at the firm were exchanging messages about the firm's billing practices. Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me if there are plenty of lawyers engaging in these kinds of discussions whether bills are being padded or not. Similar emails might be an expression of frustration on the part of lawyers about the pressure to bill more hours.

"Padding" legal bills, even unintentionally, is an inherent problem when hours are used as the basis for fees. It is human nature to want to make more money, and hourly billing encourages making more money by putting in more hours, whether those hours are valuable to the client and the ultimate result or not. Instead of emphasizing results, service and outcomes, hourly billing rewards expenditure of time - and that is always going to result in some level of 'padding.'

When a firm charges a client by the hour, the firm is also going to emphasize hours as a basis to measure performance of the firm's lawyers. In a system that rewards expenditure of time, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that padding is the result as lawyers try to find work to do on files to add hours to their timesheets, rather than focusing on excellent service.

The economic downturn has also created problems for law firms facing pressure from clients to reduce their fees, which may result in hiring less experienced attorneys at lower rates who provide an inferior work product or who take longer to perform tasks than a more experienced (and more expensive) attorney would.

The plaintiff in the suit referenced in the New York Times article complained that when he first started working with the firm, one of the partners was his regular contact, but as the firm grew, more and more attorneys who were unknown to the client were working on the client's files. Ultimately, this resulted in subpar work and higher fees.

One of the DLA Piper lawyers quoted in the article lamented the practice of lowballing bills while adding more and more lawyers to a case. He also complained about the length of time it took for associates to complete assignments and questioned whether paying more for associates would result in higher quality work.

The article doesn't specify whether the client's complaints about fees began before the change in staffing of the clients files. Although some clients may not want to pay a high hourly rate, they don't realize that the consequence of the pressure on rates can often lead a firm to sacrifice quality or to change the personnel working on a client's matters, achieving the opposite of the client's desired result.

The majority of lawyers are honest, ethical professionals who genuinely want to do right by their clients. In any profession, there will always be a few individuals who make a bad name for others by their bad behavior. But both lawyers and clients could curb at least some of this behavior by changing the way fees are charged and the emphasis placed on hours and hourly rates.

Resources

Legal Ease Consulting, Inc. Allison C. Shields

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